Winter rolling toward spring

Yes, I'm still here and still writing for this site. Some of you may have wondered over the last few weeks just what was going on, as I was relatively quiet and really slacked off on informative articles. So here's all the latest news, beginning with the oldest.

Over the holidays, Denis and I were very far away from Paris, our fast pace, and even modems. Hence, I wasn't able to send you any postcards from the Seychelle Islands. However, I promise you an article on an orchid farm and let a few balmy breezes blow your way from this sublime tropical paradise 7 degrees south of the equator in the Indian Ocean.
Look for the article soon under Visitez les jardins français rubric. Yeah, I know, the Seychelles isn't France, but it was once a French colony, and the language is French creole. The French consider it part of their history and heritage (naturally, since they're always ready to take credit for any and all things of merit).

Meanwhile, I've finally brought the Shop Online part of the site live, am receiving inventory like crazy, and slowly but surely posting products to the site. This is a LOT of work. I especially spend a lot of time photographing the stuff, trying to get a photo that truly reflects the object for you the viewer. It's more difficult than it sounds. There I am, with this wonderful tool or pot or whatever, just in thrall with its particular vibrations, and trying to make you feel what I feel when I look at this object.

For those of you who don't know this already, I'm doing my best to dedicate the shopping part of L'Atelier Vert exclusively to products made in France. No cheapo reproductions mass-produced in Indonesia or by Chinese children, just the the Real Things, made by the artisans and artists of my adopted country. I want to be proud of each and every product I offer you, and I want every item to be something I would like to have.

I also want to help, in my very small way, to keep some of the world's most extraordinary traditional artisanry alive, as well as to help nurture France's young createurs--young artists and designers struggling to find enough of a market to keep food on the table. All the while, I've made a point to select objects that move me.

Denis and I have spent the last year literally combing the country for artisans and artists, and we will always continue to do so. Part of this search happens for better or worse right here in Paris, twice a year, with the world's biggest trade show--or salon, as it's called here. Thousands and thousands of merchants, as well as artisans and artists from veritable ateliers all over France, are drawn to this enormous hub of activity. The latest installation of this show just took place, and I spent 4 solid days covering it. I'm happy to report that my sore feet have not suffered in vain. I found some extraordinary new producers and artists, whose work I am bursting with excitement to show you on the site as shipments arrive over the next 3 months. I promise you that frequent visits to the shopping pages will be rewarding. You'll see things that rarely or never reach the States.

At any rate, now that the holidays and the salon are over, I'm back with a vengeance. Look for lots of articles, beginning with the one on winter rose pruning under Au jardin posted today. And keep checking the shopping pages. You'll find (eventually) everything you need to invite the esprit of French gardening into your own home and garden.

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